This Bizarre-Looking Glove Could Be Your Gel-Manicure Savior

The nail-polish world has changed a lot since gel manicures made it big a few years ago. Dozens of brands have come out with their own gel formulas that don't require a light cure, and the proliferation of LED curing lights means decreased UV exposure. But if you're a hard-core gel fan or a serious SPF fiend, (us on both counts) you may still be trying to balance your need for perfect, smooth-as-glass polish with your urge not to up your skin-cancer risk. The good news is you're not alone—everyone who chipped in to raise nearly $23,000 in funding for the YouVeeShield gel-manicure glove's IndieGoGo campaign feels the same way.

The idea is pretty simple: Slip your hand into the glove, which is made of a plastic substance containing titanium dioxide (you know, the stuff that protect you from UV rays in a physical blocker sunscreen); the brand says it deflects 99 percent of the UV light from gel-setting lamps. Then slip your newly protected pinkies under the lamp, sit for a couple of minutes, and you've got perfectly polished nails minus the skin concerns. We're confused by the brand's instructions to put on the gloves after the nails have been painted but before they go under the lamp—good luck managing that without smudging a nail—but the gloves do look like a pretty low-effort solution to UV worries.

It's worth noting that while UV exposure is nothing to joke about, some studies have found that the amount of UV your hands are exposed to under a gel-setting UV light is pretty nominal. And although there are still plenty of UV manicure lights floating around, many salons have swapped them out for the less time-consuming, lower-maintenance LED options (if you're not sure what type of lights your salon uses, UV lights typically require a two-minute curing cycle, and LEDs usually need 45 seconds or less).

Still, if you're in the no-risk-is-a-good-risk camp, a $6 contribution to the brand's 91 percent funded IndieGoGo campaign will get you six disposable shields—a small price to pay for peace of mind.